


A Golden Thanksgiving

by theHunter_and_theNinja



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, No Whisperers, Not Canon Compliant, Thanksgiving Dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 03:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theHunter_and_theNinja/pseuds/theHunter_and_theNinja
Summary: Based on a prompt I got from @i-am-a-tutorgirl on Tumblr.Prompt: "Can you please do a Daryl x Connie piece about them at a community bonfire? Like a celebration? Thank you! :)"Daryl and Connie share their first kiss in front of a Thanksgiving bonfire.
Relationships: Connie/Daryl Dixon
Comments: 5
Kudos: 95





	A Golden Thanksgiving

Daryl groaned at Carol’s insistence that he attend Hilltop’s Thanksgiving celebration. He’d tried avoiding it by volunteering for watch duty, but both Maggie and Carol had quickly overruled him. They knew he wasn’t a huge fan of parties, but here they were coercing him into going. It was going to be his first holiday celebration since Rick’s death and celebrating without him just felt wrong. Every time they’d had a chance to celebrate a holiday, it was always Rick sitting at the head of the table. Daryl on his right and Michonne on his left as they enjoyed their time together as a family.

He’d successfully avoided all the holidays for the past five years by hiding out in the woods, but now he had no hope for escape. Carol had already threatened to track him down and drag him back to Hilltop if he so much as set one foot outside those walls. He’d been watched by her since he got back from tracking down the boar and deer centerpieces for their feast. The best part of the whole thing was when Connie’s eyes lit up when he walked back through Hilltop’s gates lugging the boar and deer behind him on a makeshift sled.

At least Dog was excited for the festivities. Daryl watched from Barrington’s porch as his companion ran around Hilltop happily accepting pets from everyone there for the feast. He let the smaller children practically climb all over him and jumped high in the air when the older ones played fetch with him. Daryl chuckled as he watched Dog snag some stray bits of discarded meat trimmings off the table, much to the cooks’ annoyance. To be fair, that’s what Dog was used to doing when he was out in the woods with Daryl.

“That’s for the broth!” she yelled shooing Dog away.

He put his ears back and looked up at her with the cutest begging face Daryl had ever seen him do. The woman’s annoyance dissipated and she sighed.

“Fine you dumb mutt, all I technically need are the bones anyway,” she said tossing him the rest of the scraps.

Dog barked happily and snapped up the meat, disappearing off to the shady area next to Barrington to enjoy his treat. Daryl watched as Connie walked over to Dog and sat down next to him, calmly petting his back as he ate. She scratched behind his ears which sent his tail thumping against the ground. Connie glanced up and saw him looking. She smiled and waved over at him. He gave her a half smile and waved back.

_ “Talk later?” _ he signed and she nodded, her smile as bright as ever.

He watched her interact with Dog for a little while longer. He’d finished his treat and had rolled over so that she could rub his belly. His tongue lolled out to the side as he panted while she used both of her hands to rub his exposed belly, his tail thumping wildly. She was the only person, other than him, who Dog would ask for belly rubs from. He didn’t know what it meant outside of Dog accepting her, but it made Daryl’s heart flutter strangely in his chest. Maybe this festival wouldn’t be so bad if he sat next to her.

He pushed himself away from the pillar he’d been leaning against and left the porch. Watching Connie play with Dog was bringing up thoughts he really wasn’t sure if he wanted to allow himself to entertain. He shook his head to clear the thoughts away, his mind set on not enjoying the festival since his brother wasn’t here.

* * *

Of course, Michonne knew his weakness and sent Judith and RJ to him for him to babysit while Michonne helped set up for the festival. He was on his way to the shooting range when she cornered him and asked him to help keep them busy.

“If you’re too grumpy to help set up, you can at least watch them and make sure they don’t get into any trouble,” Michonne told him, smirking because she knew if anyone could change his mood it would be Judith and RJ.

“Fine,” Daryl grumped, thinking about how Michonne knew him too well.

He didn’t stay grumpy for long though because soon enough Judith came running from the Alexandrain’s wagon.

“Uncle Daryl!” she yelled, jumping into his arms.

He groaned as he caught her. She definitely used to be much lighter. He swung her back and forth for a minute before putting her down. RJ then made him repeat the same thing by running and jumping on him just like his sister had. Daryl crouched down to be at their level.

“What do you guys want to do?” he asked them.

“Mom asked up to decorate the banner we’re going to hang from Barringon’s balcony,” Judith revealed holding up a basket of art supplies.

Daryl glanced over at Michonne who was watching their exchange with amusement.

He narrowed his eyes at her, “You planned this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said feigning innocence, “Have fun with the glitter!”

Daryl paled a little at her statement. He was really not in the mood to be covered in glitter. He looked back at Judith and RJ’s hopeful faces and sighed, resigning himself to his fate.

“We best get started if we want it to dry before the party starts,” Daryl said to his niece and nephew.

The two of them cheered before grabbing his hands and dragging him upstairs to Barrington’s balcony.

* * *

Daryl had been very right about the glitter. It was in his hair, on his clothes, and all over the balcony flooring. It was RJ who’d had the brilliant idea of dumping the entire container of glitter out onto the paper in an attempt to cover the glue letters and Daryl hadn’t caught it in time. The lovely, yet strong, fall breeze had picked up the particles and blown him all over him. He’d managed to shield his face from the glitter breeze by turning away as soon as he realized what was about to happen. It was a small victory in what was overall a complete mess. Luckily Judith had been spared because she was standing upwind from where RJ had dumped the glitter.

“Oopsie,” RJ commented innocently when he saw the aftermath of his actions.

Daryl shook his head in a sad attempt of dislodging some of the gold glitter. He wished that Michonne hadn’t given them glitter to decorate with, but even he had to admit that watching them both get excited over the stuff was pretty cute.

“You’re all sparkly,” Judith giggled and Daryl couldn’t help but smile at her.

Daryl looked down at the sign and groaned internally. There was more glitter on him than the rapidly drying glue letters spelling out “Happy Thanksgiving.” He knew that RJ and Judith would be crushed if they didn’t have a sign to present, so instead of grumping about being fully covered in gold glitter, he grabbed the silver glitter and helped them finish the sign.

The two kids cheered as he hung the sign from the balcony and the people below clapped for them. He could see Michonne, Carol, and Maggie covering their mouths in an effort to conceal their laughter. He knew immediately that it was beyond obvious, even from that far away, that he was covered in glitter. His face was slowly turning red as he finished hanging the sign. He helped the kids put away their supplies, including the now empty gold glitter container, before sending them off to finish getting ready for the party.

He’d have gone with them, but he wasn’t planning on leaving Barrington house without at least attempting to rid himself of the glitter. He made his way down to his bedroom, no doubt leaving a trail of gold glitter behind him, and went into the bathroom. He took off all of his clothes, tossing everything except his vest into the trash can. He didn’t care about those clothes enough to try and get the glitter out of them. He would’ve sent the clothes to the Hilltop laundry, but that would probably just result in him infecting all of Hilltop’s laundry with glitter.

He stepped into the shower and did his best to get as much glitter off of him as he could. There was so much of it that a swirl of sparkling water was circling the drain. He was going to have to clean his bathroom thoroughly after this. With all the extra people at Hilltop today, he didn’t want to use up any of the hot water, so he kept it colder than normal. After only a few minutes, he stepped back out of the shower and shivered while grabbing a towel.

He wiped his body off first and then rubbed the towel over his hair. He groaned in defeat upon seeing the gold streaks of glitter left behind by his hair. There wasn’t much he could do about it now though. The feast was supposed to start in a few minutes and one of his family members would definitely come after him if he didn’t show.

He walked back out into his room and grabbed his only other shirt and pair of pants and slipped them on. He opened the window at the front of his room and did his best to shake the glitter off his vest before pulling it on. He could’ve gone without it, but this whole holiday thing already felt wrong and walking around without his vest on would only make that feeling worse. He grabbed the comb Carol was forcing him to use and sighed as gold flakes of glitter fell onto his shoulders and came off on the brush like a bad case of dandruff.

His hands were already reinfected by the stuff, so he just brushed the wet flakes off to the best of his ability. He washed his hands in the sink one last time before admitting defeat and leaving his room. He was really not looking forward to whatever nickname he was bound to get tonight knowing Michonne, Carol, and Maggie wouldn’t miss this chance to tease him for the world.

* * *

Daryl kept his head up as he sat down at one of the long tables that had been set up for the meal. His spot had been reserved for him by Maggie since he was her right hand. He didn’t miss that Connie was sitting to his left while Michonne and Carol sat across from him. Michonne, Maggie, and Carol giggled and nudged each other upon seeing the flakes of gold still present in his hair. Daryl glared at then each individually as he sat down.

“Stop giggling and give the damn toast. I’m hungry,” Daryl grumped, settling heavily in his seat.

He heard Connie snort beside him and he felt his mood lift slightly at that. He’d gotten into the habit of signing whenever he saw her around not wanting her to ever feel left out. He knew first hand how much that hurt.

Maggie snickered as she stood and addressed the communities. Daryl resisted the urge to try and get more of it off knowing that it would just go into the food, onto his plate, and onto the people around him. Instead, he tried to focus on the toast Maggie was giving. It was something about being grateful for what they have and to remember and celebrate those they’d lost over the past year. It was pretty much the same speech every year, just given by the leader of whichever community was chosen to host that year.

As soon as Maggie was done, Daryl didn’t hesitate to start passing food around. Everyone was talking and laughing with each other. Daryl could see Connie trying to keep up with the conversations around her. The young brunette woman sitting next to Kelly was distracting her making it impossible for her to translate for her older sister. Daryl tapped on Connie’s shoulder to draw her attention to him.

_ “How are you?” _ he signed.

She smiled gratefully at him.

_ “I’m good. It’s just hard to keep up sometimes,” _ she admitted shrugging.

Daryl nodded, _ “Yeah, the people here go too fast for me sometimes, too. Of course, not in the same way.” _

She cocked her head, _ “In what way?” _

  
Daryl chewed his bottom lip as he looked at her, trying to decide what to say.

_ “I spent five years living outside these walls searching for one man,” _ Daryl explained, _ “Every time I came back everything was so different. They were all moving on with their lives while I stayed stuck in the same place. I just wasn’t ready to let him go yet.” _

_ “What got you to come back?” _she asked.

Daryl nodded his head at Carol, _ “She dragged me back to babysit Henry. It kind of forced me to start living again.” _

“What?” Carol asked from across the table.

She knew enough sign language to know he was talking about her. Daryl’s not-so-subtle head gesture helped too.

“Nothing,” Daryl said, still signing for Connie.

Carol pursed her lips, “Come on pookie, what are you talking about? I know it’s about me.”

Connie furrowed her eyebrows as glanced over at Daryl, _ “What did she call you?” _

_ “Oh, uh p-o-o-k-i-e,” _ he signed, _ “It’s her nickname for me.” _

_ “Cute,” _ she smiled at him and he blushed lightly.

He cleared his throat roughly and turned back to Carol.

“She wanted to know what got me to come back and I told her it was you,” Daryl explained.

“Ah,” Carol nodded and looked at Connie, “Glitter here wanted to stay out in the woods all by himself for eternity. For years it was like talking to a brick wall about him coming home.”

Connie laughed at the nickname while Daryl glared at Carol.

“Seriously?” he groaned.

“If the gold shoe fits...,” she smirked.

Daryl groaned and went back to grumpily eating his food.

“Come on, Daryl,” Michonne joined in, “You can’t expect all of us to sit here while your hair sparkles in the sun and not say anything.”

He glared at her too, “This is all your fault, you know.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said innocently.

Daryl grumbled a few choice words under his breath, but didn’t argue. He knew he was never going to win against the two women. Instead he turned his attention back to Connie. For the rest of the meal he endured teasing from all sides, even sometimes from Connie as she join in on the fun. At some point Daryl stopped being grumpy and started to accept that the situation was indeed funny, though he would never admit it aloud.

* * *

The sun had long set and there was a large bonfire now where the tables had been a few hours ago. Everyone around Daryl was enjoying the night, drinking and making s’mores with stale marshmallows and graham crackers and using nutella as the chocolate. The s’mores were terrible, but it was the memories of before that people were reliving. For actual dessert, there were homemade pies and cookies spread out on a table next to Barrington house.

Dog was running around with Judith, RJ, and a few other kids as they each took turns throwing his favorite ball. Connie was talking with her family across the way and Daryl was finally enjoying some peace from the teasing about the glitter sitting on a bench near the fire. He liked the way the blaze from the side lit her in a soft orange glow. Connie caught him looking at her and he immediately turned his head away.

It was a few minutes before he heard someone approaching him. He glanced over and noticed that it was Connie. In her hands she was holding two fresh beers, home brewed by someone at the Kingdom. It had taken a few years, but the guy honestly made great beer now. His first few batches were horrible. He’d even had Daryl show him how to brew moonshine, a product a lot of people took advantage of nowadays.

Daryl accepted the bottle from her since he hadn’t drank any yet tonight. He didn’t like drinking as much since Beth died because of what it did to him, but with how much he’d eaten, one beer wasn’t going to do much to him. Connie smiled and sat down next to him so close that her leg pressing against his. Daryl gulped nervously and took a drink of the beer to distract himself from the warmth now pressed against him.

_ “Enjoying the party?” _ she asked leaning against the back of the bench.

Daryl nodded. The words “more so now that you’re here” got stuck in his throat when he tried to reply.

_ “Yeah, thanks for the beer,” _ is what he ended up signing.

_ “No problem,” _ she shrugged, _ “I wasn’t sure if you drank or not. Haven’t seen you drink all evening.” _

Daryl grimaced remembering how he’d treated Beth last time he was drunk.

_ “I’m a dick when I’m drunk,” _ he explained, _ “This will be all I have tonight and probably until Christmas.” _

He could tell that she wanted to ask more, but was afraid of his reaction.

He sighed and continued, _ “When I drink my temper tends to flare up and I turn into a massive asshole. I don’t get violent though. That was more my father's thing.” _

Fuck, maybe his resistance wasn’t as strong as he thought it was. Why’d he say that?

_ “Your father beat you?” _ she asked, but it was more of a statement of fact.

Daryl nodded, not saying anything. He put the beer down on the ground having lost his appetite for it. Daryl watch Connie do the same thing and reach for his hand, covering it with one of her own. She leaned against him, causing him to tense up for a second before relaxing into the touch.

_ “I’m sorry,” _ she said looking at him meaningfully.

_ “It was a long time ago,” _ he whispered, _ “I’m fine.” _

She must’ve noticed how much he didn’t want to talk about it and changed the subject.

_ “I like it,” _ she stated brushing his hair back from his eyes.

_ “Like what?” _ he asked confused by her actions.

_ “The glitter,” _ she signed, her face mere inches from him, _ “it brings out your eyes.” _

He snorted at her and rolled his eyes, but he could feel the heat blooming in his cheeks.

_ “Stop,” _ he begged her, glancing away from her, _ “I’m nothing to look at no matter what I’m covered in.” _

She reached up and grabbed his chin, forcing his face back towards hers.

_ “I disagree,” _ she said looking up at him, _ “I think you’re always handsome.” _

He shook his head to disagree with her, but her hand stopped him.

_ “Even when you’re covered in walker blood,” _ she affirmed, _ “you’re handsome to me.” _

Daryl didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d never, in all his long years of living, ever had anyone call him handsome. But now, Connie was here leaning against him telling him she thought he was handsome even when covered in coagulated walker blood.

”You’re beautiful,” he blurted out even forgetting to sign it.

A smile broke across her face as she read his lips. Her eyes flicked from his eyes to his lips and back. Daryl watched as she liked her own lips and leaned up slightly. He could feel himself being pulled into her by some magnetic force he was unable to resist. He closed his eyes as they closed the distance between them, their lips finding the others. It was a short, but passionate kiss that left him wanting more.

He heard a gasp behind him and he froze suddenly remembering that they weren’t alone. He turned his head to locate the source and saw Maggie staring at him, her mouth hanging open in shock. She turned and ran off, probably to tell the rest of his family. He rolled his eyes and turned back to Connie. Why should he care that he’d been seen kissing someone?

Pushing the teasing and reactions that were sure to come from his family tomorrow away, he pulled Connie back in to kiss her again. She sighed in approval as their lips met again against the background of the bonfire burning behind them. Her hands found their way into his hair causing glitter to rain down on them lightly. It stuck to her face and fell into her dark curls. When he pulled away his eyes widened at the sight of the golden flecks staring back at him from her cheek and forehead.

_ “What?” _she asked worried she’d pushed him too far.

_ “You’ve got some uh...” _ he said and then pointed, _ “glitter.” _

He lifted his hand to try and brush the golden flakes off of her, but she stopped him, grabbing his hand midair.

_ “Don’t bother,” _ she explained, _ “I’m just going to get more on me.” _

Before he could ask her what she meant, she was hauling him back in for another kiss. He relaxed against her realizing what she’d meant and happily kissed her back. On the periphery of his awareness he knew that Maggie had probably by now brought Michonne and Carol over to see what was going on, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. For the first time since Beth died, he was truly happy.


End file.
